Stein auf Stein auf gefallenen Stein

History of the work

On the south wall of the Kunsthalle Bern there is a work made of lettering: 'Stein auf Stein auf gefallenen Stein' (Stone on stone on fallen stone) by Lawrence Weiner, painted directly onto the plaster in 1983. Here the title is at the same time the work. The city of Bern lists it as painting on plaster.

In the same year, from 19 August to 16 October 1983, the Kunsthalle showed Weiner's exhibition 'Werke & Rekonstruktionen' (Works & Reconstructions). The bilingual 80-page catalogue was edited by Jean-Hubert Martin, who directed the house from 1982 to 1985. The available sources do not state explicitly whether the wall work was made in connection with this exhibition. Weiner already knew Bern: in 1969 he took part in Harald Szeemann's exhibition 'When Attitudes Become Form' at the Kunsthalle.

Lawrence Weiner was born in New York on 10 February 1942 and died there on 2 December 2021. He is one of the central figures of 1960s Conceptual Art and used language as a material of sculpture. His works appear on walls, printed in books or spoken in films. In a short statement he laid down that a work may be made by the artist, fabricated by others or not built at all, all three being equally valid; these conditions remained the basis of his work until his death.

The Kunsthalle itself was built in 1917–1918 and opened on 5 October 1918. With Weiner's wall work, a building meant above all for changing exhibitions gained a permanent piece by an American conceptual artist. In front of the south wall, recall Weiner's conditions: by his own rule the work would be valid even unpainted; in Bern it has been carried out as lettering on the plaster.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · e-artexte: Lawrence Weiner. Werke & Re-Konstruktionen, Kunsthalle Bern 1983 (Katalog) · Wikipedia (en): Lawrence Weiner · Mirabaud Contemporary Art: Lawrence Weiner, Biography · Wikipedia (de): Kunsthalle Bern